Dante fell back off the log, and Jesse fell on top of him with a little laugh.
Dante grinned up at him. “How did I get so lucky?”
Jesse shook his head. “Luck wasn’t involved. You fought for it.”
That was true.
Dante stared into the woods and watched the brush part. Jesse almost jumped out of his skin as Odin appeared.
“Sweet Creation!” Jesse hissed. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
Dante patted Jesse’s hand. “Sorry. I should have said something.”
“My apologies,” Odin said softly. “But we should be leaving soon.”
Dante nodded. “Give us a minute.”
Odin inclined his head and disappeared back into the woods.
Jesse huffed. “No one should be that quiet in true form.”
“I suppose if that’s the only form you have, you make it work.”
Dante got to his feet and dusted himself off, and they made their way back to the makeshift pack house hidden in the mountain caves. He hugged everyone and played with the cubs a bit before forcing himself to leave them.
Every part of his soul screamed at him not to, but the only way to keep them safe was to end this now before it got even worse.
Odin was waiting for them with his son Kiyoshi by the cars.
“You know, your youngest called me three times, looking for you,” Dante said to Odin as he climbed into the SUV.
“Yes, I called him. He’ll be meeting us there. I was a little delayed trying to find something.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
Odin frowned thoughtfully. “I’m not entirely sure, but I certainly found something. We’ll discuss it when we have more time.”
“We still haven’t discussed what happened in England,” Dante pointed out.
“Well, we’ll discuss that too, if you’d like, after we deal with Eveline and her alpha. Time is short.”
He was well aware of that. Once River was awake and aware, they had to know it was only a matter of time before they gathered up enough heavies and warriors to mount an attack. The faster they moved, the less prepared the enemy would be.
“Let’s do this,” Dante said, and they all piled into the cars and headed north for Montana.
AUGUST FINISHED the last of the preparations. His stomach twisted, and he fought to keep back the emotions that would ruin him. His thoughts kept turning to Dante, stirring up memories from their youth. He gritted his teeth and sucked in a breath. He couldn’t allow himself to think those thoughts or remember their past before everything had gone so very badly for them.
Such innocents they had been. Two cubs with little thought of their future. If Caster had not appeared, how different might their lives have been?
He tried to shake the thoughts away and focus on the job. If he let them wander, it would ruin everything.
William slid up to his side and looked him over. “Are you okay, Alpha?”
August took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “We have to do this.”
William nodded slowly. “I know. Let me handle it. I can do this for you.”
“No,” August said quickly. “I have to do this one. It has to be me, or it doesn’t end things. I need things to end between him and me. I need him to know I did this.”
This last attack would be the nail in the coffin for the packs. They would retreat underground or fall in line, and the Mistress could focus on gathering her forces and moving on to bring others into her fold. He was skeptical that her random attacks would do as intended. But showing the clans and packs she could find them anywhere, regardless of time or place, would crush morale. Gatherings and clan houses made no difference. Her hybrids and shifters were immune to their petty wards, no matter how ancient. The top packs would be crushed, Dante’s included.
William winced. “Alpha, there’s no going back after this. You know that, right?”
There had never been any going back for him. Without this last thing, the last of his ties finally cut, there would always be something left of his soul, and he couldn’t afford that. Not now. A proper purging would end it all, and he would be exactly as he was supposed to be. Everything she wanted him to be.
“Then to hell we go, William.”
“Yep,” he agreed.
August pulled out his phone and called his darklings. “Get ready. It’s almost time.” He hung up the phone and looked to the west as the last of the sun began to set. Closing his eyes, he touched his pack and waited for Dante’s army to arrive.
34. Bloody Sacrifice
DANTE STEPPED out of the SUV and walked across the parking lot of a cheap motel outside Billings where they had agreed to meet. The drive from Boulder took longer than he’d expected. Fifteen long hours of shift driving so no one was too tired by the time they got here. Traffic was still tied up after the attacks four nights before, and places were still without power, making travel slow in a few places. He had brought Trevor, Seth, Blaine, and Lex with him, leaving Michael and the other adults at home to protect the pack that retreated into the mountains. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but they needed to kill the Mistress, and August would be set up for a fight.
Odin yawned and stretched as he emerged from the car behind him. The entire town was gone, either dead or evacuated. Dante wasn’t sure which; probably both.
“How many did your people manage to bring?” Dante asked.
“Thirty. It was short notice,” Odin said. “Are you sure this is the nest?”
“Positive,” Dante said, and his people spread out around him, scanning the area.
Angel and Patrick emerged from the hotel a few minutes later with their heavies. Each had brought four.
Patrick grinned at him. “Good to see you, old friend. I was worried about you.”
“You always worry about me, Patrick.”
“True enough. You’re good about getting yourself into trouble.”
They greeted each other in a warm embrace.
“No, my friend, trouble finds me,” Dante said and turned to Angel. “How many?”
“I managed to get us ten alphas with heavies. Thirty-seven total now that you’re here. How many do you think are there?”
Dante shook his head. “A hundred? Nicky’s inside but unconscious. Lloyd was with them last time I heard from them.”
“And River?” Lazarus asked, looking at the ground.
Dante wasn’t oblivious to the friendship Lazarus and River had begun to form while overseas. Dante wished he had better news and stared off into the setting sun. “River was pulled from me. I don’t know.”
Lazarus lifted his head with surprise. He opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut again and turned away. “I’m sorry for your loss, Master Dante,” he said after a long moment.
Dante nodded and sighed heavily. “She could still be there. We’ll find her if she is.”
Lazarus inclined his head. “Of course we will.” Dante could hear the slight uncertainty in his voice.
“Lazarus, River’s very capable. I have every faith in her. So should you.”
Lazarus forced a smile. “Yes, Master Dante.”
Dante pulled his attention back to Angel. “All right, show us what a brilliant plan you’ve made.”
Angel pulled out a map and laid it on Dante’s SUV. “You were late, so this is what we came up with.”
“Sorry, there were roadblocks being set up to keep the humans back. Trevor had to get a little rough. No one was seriously harmed, but it took some time off our trip here.”
Angel sighed with frustration. “Humans. They just can’t stay out of the way.” He scanned the map and began pointing to the marks. “Patrick is going to meet group one here and come in from the south. You can take group two and come in from the east. I’ll take the north. They will only be able to go west then, which will push them toward the lake. There’s a nice choke point there with group four, which will be Odin’s group, mostly dark—I mean, Nephi
lim.”
Dante twitched a smile, and Odin chuckled.
“You can’t offend me. I’ve heard far worse than ‘darkling’ in my time,” Odin said.
“Be aware. They’re likely to have cubs stolen from the other packs as well as some of the missing. Tell your people to just be aware.”
“You don’t want us to kill the pack?” Odin asked.
Dante hesitated a moment. The cubs were the most important. “No cubs, Odin.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“All right, let’s do this,” Dante said. “Good luck, and don’t die. We need to keep our numbers up if at all possible.”
“I second the not dying part,” Patrick said with a chuckle and pulled out his flask to pass it around.
They each took a long drink as they scanned the map one last time and polished their plan. Patrick pulled him aside as they started splitting up to leave.
“Don’t let him get into your head, my friend. If you see him, kill him. Don’t hesitate,” Patrick said. “Because he will not hesitate when it comes to you.”
Dante nodded, and they each took a group of three alphas and five Nephilim. The final group of pack and an alpha went with Odin and the rest of the Nephilim. Dante looked at his group and found himself looking at Velasco.
He shot Velasco a worried look. “Stay close.”
Velasco smiled. “I’m older than you are. Isn’t that what I should be telling you?”
River had considered Velasco a cub, and they were both right.
“No,” Dante said simply and stripped off his clothes.
Making the last adjustments to his group, the pack shifted and the Nephilim spread out. As one unit they began to move, taking turns as lead and weaving in and out of the main group to keep their sides covered and rear guarded. He didn’t let himself think about anything else but what was going on here. There was too much at stake.
Twilight turned to dark, and Dante could smell the scent of gunpowder. Dante called to his pack and followed the scent. The packs scattered as individual units. The battle had begun.
LLOYD WOKE to the sound of loud voices outside. He peered out the window to see Jax and Charleston in the middle of a heated argument. Charleston outweighed Jax by a good twenty pounds and a few inches. He was also older and far more vicious than Jax.
Lloyd winced as Charleston leaped at Jax, tackling him to the ground. The pair scrambled, exchanging blows. Snarls filled the air, but no one came to stop them or even gave them much of a look as they passed.
Jax went still after a moment, and Lloyd’s heart skipped a beat as Charleston turned and grinned at him through the window.
“Oh fuck,” Lloyd whispered. He spun to look at the door to the room. It was open a crack.
Lloyd grabbed the chain and pulled, but it was useless. The chain wasn’t budging. He backed up as far into his corner as he could and grabbed the extra links in his hand. It wasn’t much, but it was the only thing he had.
The door banged open, and Charleston stepped into the room.
“What good is a gift if it isn’t used?” Charleston said. “Jax asks too many questions. He doesn’t deserve a gift.”
“The alpha gave me to him, not you,” Lloyd said quickly.
Charleston paused a moment and shrugged. “The alpha is not here.”
Lloyd frowned. “No? Where is he?”
Charleston chuckled. “You would like to know? Many will know soon.”
The words sent a dark chill down Lloyd’s spine. He had a bad feeling about this.
“Come to me, pretty gift. I will be nice if you do.”
He grabbed the chains tighter in his hand behind his back. “I like it over here, thanks.”
Charleston growled and closed the distance between them. Lloyd swung the short bit of chain with everything he had, but there wasn’t enough momentum behind it. The hybrid staggered and whipped out his hand. The blow struck Lloyd across the face and head.
His vision grayed a bit, and he found himself blinking up at Charleston.
“A gift like you should be used,” Charleston said.
A shadow appeared behind Charleston, and blood suddenly poured from his throat, splattering down on Lloyd’s chest.
“No,” Jax said. “He is not yours to use.”
Charleston grabbed for his throat and collapsed beside Lloyd.
Jax held his hand out to Lloyd. Lloyd stared at it a moment before taking it and allowing Jax to help him up.
“Your people are coming,” Jax said and pulled a key from around his neck. “They will take you home. You help me first, yes? Owe me debt.”
Lloyd looked him over. He was badly bruised and bleeding from several deep cuts on his chest and ribs. He didn’t look very able to do anything much himself.
“What do you need me to do?” Lloyd asked. “Can you help me find Nicky and River?”
“Your male friend in blue building. Medicine building. The female is not here.” Jax held up the key for Lloyd to see. “You help me first, then we go get your friend in blue building.”
“Your word on it?” Lloyd asked.
“What does this mean? Word… I speak words.”
“Your promise. It means that you’ll try with everything you have to make sure you’ll do what you say.”
Jax thought a long moment and nodded. “I can give you words like that. And you give me words to help me first.”
Lloyd nodded. “Agreed.”
Jax unlocked the chain and took the smaller lock from the collar. “Keep on like you still attached and follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Pack house. Badness will happen there soon.” They both turned to the sound of an alert howl. “We have little time. Hurry.”
Lloyd followed Jax out the door and through the clearing. The sound of battle in the distance shook the trees as they raced for the pack house. He expected heavies, but there wasn’t a single one to be seen. No heavies, no hybrids, nothing to protect the cubs. It made him uneasy, and he paused outside the back door.
“This feels wrong,” Lloyd warned.
Jax ignored him, shoved open the back door, and raced through the halls. They came to a stop outside the massive wood-and-metal door that led to the pack room. No one was here either.
He could smell August everywhere, but there was something else coming from inside the room. Another pack.
The door was locked with a heavy padlock and an iron bar on the outside. Definitely not the average pack room that locked from the inside. Someone was trapped inside. Several someones.
“Who’s in there?” Lloyd asked.
“The disposables.” Jax began ripping open the nearby closets. “Help open door. Hurry.”
Lloyd scanned the area, and his eyes fell on small bricks of C-4 hanging around the door near the rafters. His heart skipped a beat. Whatever was in there was bait.
He grabbed for the lock and tried to pull it free. The lock was solid and new. There was no way he was breaking it.
“We need the keys.”
“No keys. Alpha has keys,” Jax grumbled and rushed back down the hall, looking for something to open the door with.
Lloyd studied the door and lock, and his gaze fell on the hinges. They were on the outside of the door.
“Jax! Get a screwdriver! A flat head.”
“What flat head?”
Lloyd cursed and raced to find Jax in the kitchen, rummaging through drawers. Lloyd shoved him aside and grabbed a screwdriver and a large heavy wrench from inside the junk drawer, then raced back to the door.
Using the wrench as a hammer, he began to tap the hinges out a bit at a time.
“Hurry. Time not long,” Jax said.
“You go get Nicky. I’ll finish this.”
Jax hesitated. “You promise get cub.”
Lloyd stared at Jax in horror. “There’s cubs in here?”
“Disposables.” Jax’s face twisted with worry.
Lloyd slammed the wrench harder agai
nst the screwdriver. “Go get Nicky. I’ll get this. I promise.”
He hammered away, his gaze flickered up to the explosives over his head. With every breath he prayed they didn’t explode.
Lloyd jumped when the wrench slipped, smacking his fat fingers with the wrench. He snarled and tried to claw the peg out, but it was stuck solid. He continued his hammering until Jax reappeared.
“Nicky?” Lloyd asked.
“Not blow up outside.” Jax grabbed the peg with his hand and ripped it out the rest of the way.
The sound of distant battle reached his ears. Lloyd worked faster and ignored the looming explosive overhead. Together they hammered and pried the second one out and tossed the door aside.
The room was filled with pack and strays chained to the ground. All sizes and ages were sprawled out on the floor. Against the far wall was an alpha. He was chained to the wall and his scent filled the room. Battered and beaten, he didn’t move, and for a moment, Lloyd thought he and everyone in the room was dead.
Jax leapt across the room ahead of him to a small furry cub. Lloyd had never seen a beast cub before, but turned his attention to those chained around him. The cub smelled like August. Lots of those here did. He shook his head, confused. Certainly August didn’t plan to kill his own people as well. Most of those in the room were unconscious. Drugged, he guessed, but some stirred a little with their presence.
“Help here,” Jax called.
Lloyd rushed to Jax’s side, and together they pulled on the spike in the ground that bound the cub to the floor. The fuzzy cub stirred but didn’t quite wake.
Lloyd grabbed the chain on one side of the spike and Jax the other, and together they managed to jerk the spike from the wood floor.
Cutting Ties Page 25
